Sale of handgun

Question
QUESTION: A relative had possession of a handgun belonging to my sister.  He said he sold it to another individual, without her permission.  What steps should she take?  She lives in a different state than what the gun was purchased and does not have a record of the sale or gun serial number.

ANSWER: I am unsure of the nature and purpose of your question.

She could report the gun stolen by the relative, and he can be arrested and charged, but without any corroborating evidence (such as make model serial number), there is unlikely to be a conviction without a confession, and I'm not sure what that may accomplish other than ruin whatever relationship your sister has with this relative.

She could circumvent the criminals system, and take him to small claims court, suing him for the value of the gun. This would be heard by a judge rather than a jury, and there may be some sympathy for her case, but again without any specifying information, unless he admits to it, she is unlikely to recover the value of the gun as damages (it's kind of hard to tell what a gun is worth when you don't know the make or model of it).

She could simply ask him for the money he made from the transaction.

Beyond these steps there is not much she can do (and not much hope of satisfaction from any of these courses of action if he denies it - imagine going before a judge and saying, "He stole my car." "What kind of care was it?" "I don't know?" "What year was it made?" "I don't know." "What was it's value?" "I don't know."

You get my point.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: All she's wanting to do is make sure if anything happens with this gun that it doesn't come back on her, e.g. unlawful actions.  

Answer
For the most part, the party who owns a gun that is sold, lost, or stolen is not responsible for crimes committed with it. The party who committed the crime is. As an analogy, imagine if someone took a shovel from your garage and you either did or did not notice it was missing. Imagine further that the person who took it used in an aggravated assault. What responsibility would you bear for that? None.

Some states do have "safe storage laws" or a requirement to report guns stolen, if known. If your sister wants to be sure, she could call the police and file a missing or stolen property report.